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2018 Associate Raises

Update July 1, 2018 – Cravath, who has traditionally been the first mover who sets the market, has now raised the bar for 2018 associate raises. They have announced a new pay scale that matches Milbank for junior associates and exceeds it by $5,000 for midlevel associates and by $10,000 for senior associates.

They will also pay associates a special mid year bonus on June 29th:

This now sets the bar for 2018 associate raises for other big firms to match. Some firm like Greenberg Traurig have already announced that they will not match the 2018 associate raises.

Previously on June 4th 2018 –

On the heels of the associate salary raise announced in 2016 that took 1st years from $160K to $180K, BigLaw is again raising associate salaries for all US Associates, this time from $180K to $190K. The new salary scale after the 2018 associate salary raises is:

Cravath who has historically been the first mover did not lead the charge this time. In a memo to associates yesterday, Milbank was the first to announce raises. They were followed today by Winston Strawn, Proskauer and Hueston Hennigan. More firms will announce raises today and I expect most of the leading firms in the AmLaw 100 will raise associate salaries before July 1.

For a quick refresher, most firms (aside for some regional differences) in the US were paying first year associates $70,000 in 1993. In 1997 first years were paid $83,000 and in 2000 salaries went up to $125,000. In 2006 there was a raise to $145,000 and in 2007, buoyed by a robust economy, first year associate salaries went up to $160,000. In 2016 with the economy having recovered, first year associate salaries were raised to $180,000.

Adjusted for inflation, a $190K salary in 2018 is equivalent to $130K in 2000. So, $190K is probably correct based on historical data.

Here is a list of firms that have announced with a hyperlink to the Above The Law post with details. Listed in order of their AmLaw 200 Profits Per Partner rank. We’ll keep adding to the list as more firms announce.